Celebrating and supporting early career researchers within underrepresented groups in materials science

Nature Communications has been striving to support Early Career Researchers (ECRs) through different pilot schemes including the peer review mentoring programs and co-review mentoring initiative. The 2nd Rising Stars workshop, held at the Henry Royce Institute on the 9th of February, 2024, aims to celebrate and support rising stars within underrepresented groups in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects and this greatly aligns with the aspirations in our journal. In this conversation, the experiences and advice shared by representatives from various disciplines in the workshop are translated to a wider audience in Nature Communications. Dr Alex Ramadan (Lecturer at the University of Sheffield), Dr Lucy Whalley (Assistant Professor at Northumbria University), Dr Maddison Coke (Senior Experimental Officer at the University of Manchester), and Dr Yi Liu (Lecturer at Loughborough University) discuss the opportunities and challenges they face towards their career with work-life balance, family and caring responsibility, and diversity and inclusion in their workplace, and share their experiences on how mentorship supports their personal and professional growth.

students and working with them has been so enjoyable.I feel very lucky to get the opportunity to train the next generation scientists.Maddison Coke: Taking risks.I am quite a risk-averse person; when it came to the end of my PhD, I struggled with the uncertainty and ultimately went for an Experimental Officer role, which was a permanent role and provided a sense of security.After three years, I felt that I needed more challenge and growth, and so I applied for my current job, which was on a fixed-term contract.I have felt much more fulfilled in this role and am glad that I took the risk and pushed myself beyond limit.
Yi Liu: I think the most challenging part has been time management.Maintaining a good balance among research, teaching, grant writing, administration and outreach works has been a formidable task.This is further complicated by the commitment to my private life, especially as a new parent and to attend to the unexpected illness of my baby.
These have tested my resilience and stress management skills, compelling me to adapt quickly and re-prioritise important tasks to maintain the quality of my work and at the same time to spend precious moments with my family.Yi Liu: My working environment has been striving towards promoting diversity and inclusivity, thanks to the dedicated efforts of the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion committee in our school.I've had the opportunity to organise activities to enhance our workspace for everyone; particularly, we focus on creating interactive programs to educate and foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of diversity.We also aim to improve mechanisms on receiving feedback, allowing staff and students to share their experiences and provide suggestions for our environment to be more welcoming and supportive.We hope to come up with flexible policies to better support work-life balance and caregiving responsibilities.

What
6. How do you make a balance between career-minded and family-oriented, especially if you have a childcare responsibility?
Lucy Whalley: I have a very supportive partner who is happy and able to cover childcare whilst I go to conferences or meet deadlines.I choose to work part-time (0.8 full-time equivalent) and use Friday as a "mop-up" day.Earlier in the week, I try to protect a block of time for undisturbed reading, writing and research, by hiding in a café to free my mind from admin tasks or the squeals of a four-yearold.With these, I can be more present at home in the weekday evenings and during weekends.

Maddison
1. Please introduce yourself.What has been the favourite part of your work so far?Alex Ramadan: I'm a Lecturer in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Sheffield.I'm an experimental scientist working on advancing the scientific understanding and development of emerging semiconductors for implementation in optoelectronics, with a strong focus on photovoltaic devices.Alongside my research, I'm keen to improve research culture and equality, diversity, and inclusion in physical sciences.The favourite part of my work has always been the opportunity to meet new people, and to work with and learn from them.This year, I started supervising my first PhD Top left: Alex Ramadan, Lecturer in Energy Materials at the University of Sheffield.Top right: Lucy Whalley, Assistant Professor of Physics at Northumbria University.Bottom left: Maddison Coke, Senior Experimental Officer at the Photon Science Institute at the University of Manchester.Bottom right: Yi Liu, Lecturer in Polymer Processing at Loughborough University.
This interview was conducted by Dr Natalie Lok Kwan Li.Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material.If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
can talk openly and honestly with the people I have met through our Rising Stars workshops, and it helps to have those bonds.We aim to organise the next Rising Stars, hopefully in the coming Januaryif you would like to receive news about the next Rising Stars event, you can visit the Royce website for updates.Explore your options and know why you want it.A career in research doesn't have to look just one way.There are more diverse routes into and around academia now; knowing these routes and finding the best balance you want in your life is the most important.Knowing why you want to be an academic is important, as it's not always going to go linearly in the right direction, but this will help you focus on key deliverables that are needed for you to achieve your goals.My advice is to embrace resilience and adaptability.It's crucial to develop a diverse skill set that extends beyond your research niche.Networking is indispensable as it helps you to connect within and beyond your field.Actively seek mentorship for invaluable guidance and support.Embrace interdisciplinary opportunities as they open new doors and expand your perspective.More importantly, never underestimate the power of having conversations to engage with peers, mentors, and even those outside your immediate expertise.These interactions can spark new ideas, provide a different viewpoint, and offer practical advice to navigate and embrace your challenges.
Lucy Whalley: One suggestion is to recognise and record your strengths and gains.I find it fairly easy to focus on what I have not achieved, so I started to log one success each month.Another suggestion is to try and connect with people who understand both the professional and personal aspects of your life.I